The Nutcracker: Difference between revisions

'''''The Nutcracker''''' ({{lang-langx|ru|Щелкунчик{{efn|{{lang|ru|Щелкунчикъ}} in [[Reforms of Russian orthography|Russian pre-revolutionary orthography spelling]]}}|Shchelkunchik}}, {{IPA-|ru|ɕːɪɫˈkunʲt͡ɕɪk|pron|Ru-Shchelkunchik.ogg}}), [[Opus number|Op.]] 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a ''{{lang|fr|[[ballet-féerie]]}}''; {{lang-langx|ru|балет-феерия|balet-feyeriya|links=no}}) by [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]], set on [[Christmas Eve]] at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination. The plot is an adaptation of [[E. T. A. Hoffmann]]'s 1816 short story ''[[The Nutcracker and the Mouse King]]''. The ballet's first choreographer was [[Marius Petipa]], with whom Tchaikovsky had worked three years earlier on ''The Sleeping Beauty'', assisted by [[Lev Ivanov]]. Although the complete and staged ''The Nutcracker'' ballet was not initially as successful as had been the 20-minute ''[[Nutcracker suite|Nutcracker Suite]]'' that Tchaikovsky had premiered nine months earlier, ''The Nutcracker''it soon became popular.

Since the late 1960s, it''The Nutcracker'' has been danced by countlessmany ballet companies, especially in North America.<ref name="fisher">{{cite book|last=Fisher|first=J.|year=2003|title=Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas Tradition in the New World|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press}}</ref> Major American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket revenues from performances of ''Thethe Nutcracker''ballet.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20131223/ARTS/131229961/the-nutcracker-brings-big-bucks-to-ballet-companies|title=The Nutcracker brings big bucks to ballet companies|last=Agovino|first=Theresa|date=23 December 2013|newspaper=[[Crain's New York Business]]|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Daniel J.|last=Wakin|title=Coming Next Year: ''Nutcracker'' Competition|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E7DC1639F933A05752C1A96F9C8B63|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=30 November 2009}}</ref> The ballet'sIts score has been used in several film adaptations of Hoffmann's story.

The first complete performance outside Russia took place in England in 1934,<ref name="balletmet1"/> staged by [[Nicholas Sergeyev]] after Petipa's original choreography. Annual performances of the ballet have been staged there since 1952.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/dance/article3000261.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615201139/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/dance/article3000261.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=15 June 2011 | location=London | work=The Times | first=Debra | last=Craine | title=Christmas cracker | date=8 December 2007}}</ref> Another abridged version of the ballet, performed by the [[Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo]], was staged in [[New York City]] in 1940,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu//oasis/deliver/deepLink?_collection=oasis&uniqueId=hou00231|title=Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo records, 1935–1968 (MS Thr 463): Guide.|access-date=3 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001625/http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu//oasis/deliver/deepLink?_collection=oasis&uniqueId=hou00231|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Alexandra Fedorova (choreographer)|Alexandra Fedorova]] – again, after Petipa's version.<ref name="balletmet1"/> The ballet's first complete United States performance was on 24 December 1944 by the [[San Francisco Ballet]], staged by its artistic director, [[Willam Christensen]], and starring Gisella Caccialanza as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jocelyn Vollmar as the Snow Queen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/remembering-jocelyn-vollmar-1925-2018-s-f-ballets-1st-snow-queen-sparkled-on-and-off-stage|title = Remembering Jocelyn Vollmar (1925-2018): SF Ballet's 1st Snow Queen sparkled on- and offstage}}</ref><ref name="balletmet1"/> After the enormous success of this production, San Francisco Ballet has presented ''Nutcracker'' every Christmas Eve and throughout the winter season, debuting new productions in 1944, 1954, 1967, and 2004. The original Christensen version continues in [[Salt Lake City]], where Christensen relocated in 1948. It has been performed every year since 1963 by the Christensen-founded [[Ballet West]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://balletwest.org/about|title = About : Ballet West}}</ref>

* Herr Drosselmeyer

[[File:Nutcracker design (cropped).jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Konstantin Ivanov's original sketch for the set of ''The Nutcracker'' (1892)]] The ballet is set inIn [[Nuremberg, Germany]] on Christmas Eve in the 1820s, wherea family and friendstheir havefriends gatheredgather in the parlor to decorate the Christmas tree in preparation for the party. Once the tree is finished, the children are summoned.

When the party begins,<ref>{{cite AV media | first1=Yekaterina | last1=Maximova | first2=Vladimir | last2=Vasiliev| date=1967 | title=Nutcracker Suite Performed By The Bolshoi (1967) | location=Moscow, Russia| publisher=British Pathé|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnAsmLgEGnA}}</ref> presents are given out to the children. Suddenly, asWhen the owl-topped grandfather clock strikes eight, a mysterious figure enters the room. It is Drosselmeyer— a local councilman, magician, and Clara's godfather. He is also a talented toymaker who has brought with him gifts for the children, including four lifelike dolls who dance to the delight of all.<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Dancers of the Moscow Ballet| date=2017 | title=Doll Dance | location=Moscow, Russia| publisher=Moscow Ballet|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QIPu3fC2vU| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/8QIPu3fC2vU| archive-date=30 October 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He then has them put away for safekeeping.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140222203538/http://www.kultur-fibel.de/Ballett;Der_Nussknacker,Tschaikowsky.htm The Nutcracker ballet]